This invention relates to seats and armrest structures employed with the seats. More particularly this invention is concerned with an armrest structure for a vehicle seat.
Armrest structures for seats usually are fixed in a generally horizontal disposition and at a particular vertical distance from the seat portion of the vehicle seat. While support for the arm, and lateral support for the body, of the seat occupant is provided in seats with such armrests, movement into and out of the seat is hindered. Furthermore, such seats have a reduced facility for comfortably accommodating occupants of different body types. Such problems become substantially magnified in vehicle seats where the environment of the seat increases the difficulty of providing a comfortable seat with ready access and adequate support for a variety of vehicle operators. The problem is most acute in the often crowded cabs of heavy commercial and off-the-road vehicles.
Attempts to address the aforementioned problems have resulted in development of armrests which, while having some vertical adjustment properties, rely on complex linkage structures which consume space. Such structures also would be exposed to fouling and damage in an off-the-road vehicle application. Other armrests have only a pivoting facility.